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“Crystal myth” (Crystal healing)

The package on the healing crystal promised to protect the heart charka. So I put it on and, sure enough, my heart chakra escaped the day unscathed.

Crystal healing refers to trying to rid the body of a wide range of ailments by putting precious stones on various body parts. Sort of like ointment, only without the nasty aroma or effectiveness.

The claims associated with crystal healing usually focus on terms like aura and Third Eye. Or, they laud their usefulness in facilitating spiritual wakefulness or in connecting to a higher realm of knowledge. As such, crystal healing is relatively innocuous among the pseudo-medicines. If using amethyst to battle Hodgkin’s, or citrine to improve eyesight, the failures would be obvious. Therefore, crystals aren’t used to treat real disease, and as such, aren’t harmful like faith healing or psychic surgery. Using crystals to energize the solar plexus or to create harmony is only detrimental to one’s financial health.

Different colors of crystals are usually said to be associated with a specific chakra. As the potency of rutilated quartz in channeling tranquility from the inner realm is untestable, the color coordination varies by practitioner. Any perceived benefit comes from the placebo effect, selective memory, subjective validation, and communal reinforcement.

The genesis of the belief in crystal healing may come from the discovery of the piezoelectric effect. This showed that, when compressed, crystals produce an electric charge. This has numerous applications, including the cigarette lighter and loudspeakers. But using crystals to reduce stress only works if done while tapping into the piezoelectric effect to light incense and send Zamfir through the loudspeakers.